Arvind Kejriwal hits out at Congress for appointing Kamal Nath as Punjab in-charge

Kejriwal also questioned Centre's move to reopen 75 cases of anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and some other states saying BJP has set up SIT (Special Investigation Team) only to prevent AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) from forming an effective SIT

Written by: Press Trust of India

Published: June 12, 2016, 10:13 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/arvind-kejriwal-hits-out-at-congress-for-appointing-kamal-nath-as-punjab-in-charge-1254854/ Copy

New Delhi, Jun 12: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today attacked the Congress party for appointing Kamal Nath as the party general secretary and in-charge of Punjab, asking Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh if he has absolved Nath for his alleged involvement in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Kejriwal also questioned Centre’s move to reopen 75 cases of anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and some other states saying BJP has set up SIT (Special Investigation Team) only to prevent AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) from forming an effective SIT.(Also Read: Sonia Gandhi appoints Ghulam Nabi Azad as Congress general secretary incharge of UP, Kamal Nath to look after Punjab)

Hours after Nath and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad were appointed general secretaries in-charge of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor tweeted “Capt Amrinder shud state his stand on Kamal Nath. Does Capt absolve Kamal Nath?” Later, he also tweeted “Reopen cases now? What did they do in one n a half years? BJP set up SIT only 2 prevent AAP from formin effective SIT.” AAP is set to contest assembly polls in Punjab, the first time it is contesting a state election after its landslide victory in Delhi in 2015.

Apart from Punjab, 69-year-old Nath will look after Haryana. He is the senior most MP in the current Lok Sabha having won from his pocket borough of Chhindwara nine times. Meanwhile, a Home Ministry official said Centre-appointed SIT will re-investigate around 75 cases of 1984 riots in Delhi and some other states, a decision that comes months ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab. A total of 3,325 people were killed in the riots. Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.

Delhi Police had closed 241 cases citing lack of evidence. The Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of the 241 cases closed by police but BJP wanted re-investigation of all the other 237 cases. At the time of formation of the SIT about one-and-a-half- years ago, the government had said it would submit its report within six months. However, it is not known why the SIT’s work got delayed and now it has decided to re-investigate only the 75 anti-Sikh riot cases.